A/N: Thanks for reviewing the last one! I'm glad that you guys are open to these crazy ideas. So, this one wasn't really inspired by The Big Bang Theory but I did imagine their apartment. Lol. And now, I present: nerd Jackson! Enjoy :)
Disclaimer: Same as always.
Jackson focused his full attention on his breakfast as Meredith Grey pulled her shirt over her head as she sprinted across the apartment. He could feel his cheeks heat as he caught a flash of her bright red bra and it made his plate full of food all the more interesting. "Morning Meredith," he greeted quietly.
"Hey Jackson! I'm running really late so see you next week!" She called as she ran out the door.
"Bye Meredith," he called after her pointlessly.
He sighed as the door slammed shut and he turned back to his plate of toast and scrambled eggs. He readjusted his position on the stool at the island before he resumed eating. Most people would think that talking to beautiful women everyday would approve your social skills, but so far it hadn't worked for Jackson. He supposed the fact that the beautiful women were his roommate's conquests didn't help him. They were never interested in him to begin with.
But he had been living with Matthew Taylor for four years now, so he should be used to the endless parade of gorgeous women.
Yet he wasn't. Probably never would be.
On Monday mornings he saw Meredith Grey. Beautiful and mysterious. When she stayed to have breakfast with him he found her rather fascinating to converse with, she was rather insightful but also quite dark. As of last week, Tuesday mornings had been reserved for Cristina Yang. She was beautiful too, and brilliant, but very mean. Most of the time she had just ignored him. Thankfully, he wouldn't have to endure that anymore because Matthew had ended things with her, claiming that she was "too much of a downer". Wednesdays mornings, he made a special batch of coffee for Leah Murphy because she was always nice enough to ask. She was an energetic college student who was quick-witted and full of spunk. He liked her, and unsurprisingly, she was beautiful as well. Thursday mornings he stuttered his way through an interaction with Izzie Stevens. She was probably the most beautiful of all of Matthew's girlfriends. She was tall, blonde, and an underwear model. She was intimidating to say the least.
The weekends were Jackson's favourite time of the week because that's when he saw who Matthew referred to as his real girlfriend, April Kepner. She was beautiful and smart and kind, and perfect…and Jackson was head over heels for her. She treated Jackson like an equal, a friend even. She was working on her thesis in behavioural psychology so they were actually able to have an intelligent conversation. She had been dating Matthew for over a year and Jackson had no idea why they were even together. What did she see in him?
He rolled his eyes as he pondered the answer to his stupid question. Right, Matthew was dreamy. Women fell at his feet because he was tall and muscular with a charming smile and great hair. He was a model turned actor. He now had a recurring role in a daytime soap opera and his busy work schedule was probably what allowed him to sleep around without April getting suspicious. He was on set all day and he spent most of his nights learning lines and practicing his scenes, at least that's what he told his girlfriend. He reserved his weekends for her and that seemed to be enough for April, especially since she was incredibly busy as well.
Jackson didn't condone Matthew's actions but the guy was his friend. They had known each other for a long time and tattling on him would just be wrong, and he was afraid that he would hurt April by telling her the truth.
He couldn't bring himself to do that.
He was completely in love with the perky red-head and she was totally into Matthew, and Jackson couldn't really blame her. The guy seemed pretty perfect. He had to admit that aside from the whole sleeping with multiple women thing, Matthew treated April very well. He was sweet and affectionate with her, he bought her nice things, and took her on trips…and Jackson was well, he was just Jackson. He was tall and skinny with curly hair that was just a little too long. He had some muscle tone but he appeared lanky next to Matthew. He was socially awkward and struggled with talking to women; he usually just didn't have much in common with them. He wore large glasses because contacts irritated his eyes, he thought that his feet were way too large for his body, and he knew that he had a terrible fashion sense. Not to mention that his job wasn't exactly a babe magnet, he was a research chemist at Cal Tech. He had a PhD from MIT and an IQ of 185; most women were incredibly intimidated, or annoyed, by his intelligence.
He didn't exactly have women lining up for him, and it didn't matter anyway because he just wanted April.
"Hey man, good morning," Matthew greeted him as he strolled into the kitchen in just his boxers.
Jackson tried not to appear envious, or creepy, as his eyes roved over Matthew's chiselled upper body. "Hey," Jackson murmured. "How's it going?"
"Pretty good. I don't have to be on set until noon, which is why it sucks that Meredith had to go into work early."
Jackson screwed up his nose in distaste. "Yeah, that sucks," he agreed weakly.
"But it's okay because I'm going to meet up with April," he smiled.
Jackson's mood picked up instantly. "April's coming by?"
Matthew shook his head as he grabbed a carton of orange juice out of the refrigerator. "No, we're going to go out for breakfast. I think I'll take her to that little café she likes around the corner from UCLA."
The dark-skinned man held back a sigh. She really did love that place. "Sounds great."
Matthew nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I should take a quick shower first though. I'll see you later, man. Have a good day!"
"You too," Jackson responded.
He groaned aloud and smacked his forehead once his roommate was out of ear shot. He was never going to get the girl.
Jackson was startled when his morning routine was interrupted by a knock on the door. He was immediately confused. Hardly anyone visited him in the lab. He was essentially a hermit. He usually ate lunch in the cafeteria with a few coworkers but they were too busy in their own labs to visit him. He laid his pencil down on the lab bench and turned towards the door slowly. "Come in?" He called awkwardly.
The door opened and his breath hitched in his throat. April was his visitor. April…in all of her glory…with her gorgeous auburn hair, flawless skin, and bright smile. He instantly felt his throat constrict and his palms sweat. He pushed his glasses farther up his nose before he wiped his hands on his lab coat. "April…hi…uh, good morning," he cleared his throat and smiled. "Um, what's up?"
She smiled at him happily as she laid the bag slung over her shoulder on a nearby chair and removed her coat. "I wanted to talk to you." She walked towards the end of the lab bench and rested her elbows on the tabletop. She pushed her hair out of her face and batted her eyelashes at him. "And I kinda need a favour."
"Anything," he responded way too eagerly. He blushed and turned away to look at his clipboard. He pretended to look at his results and ponder their implications. "I mean, I think I'll have time, depends on what it is?"
She bit down on her lip nervously before she asked, "Can you read the final draft of my thesis?" Jackson was the smartest guy that she knew, which was why she wanted him to read it, and yet was so overwhelmingly nervous about giving it to him. What if he thought it was a pile of crap? What if he said that she needed to scrap everything and start over? "I would really appreciate it."
Jackson already knew that he was going to say yes. He would never deny her anything. "Yeah, sure, I can do that."
She squealed excitedly before she moved towards her bag and pulled out a folder. "Thank you! I think that it's still a little rough but I will appreciate any suggestions you have."
"I'm sure that it'll be great," he smiled confidently.
April was brilliant, she was a great writer and she had great ideas. They talked about science all the time, mostly when Matthew wasn't around. She was the one of the only women that he knew that he could talk about self-assembling nanostructures with.
She was just really great.
She placed the paper in front of him and began to explain what exactly she had written about and the format of her paper. Jackson, for the most part, zoned out on whatever she was saying and focused on her beautiful face. Her lips and her eyes…and he just knew that he could gaze at her for hours…and think about what it would be like to kiss her.
He snapped out of it when April giggled his name. "Jackson? Where did you go?"
He blushed and guiltily looked away. "Sorry," he murmured.
"Did all of the psychology bore you already?" She teased.
He knew that she was joking but he responded seriously. "I don't think your work is boring. I think it's awesome."
She smiled sweetly. "Thanks."
He needed a minute to breathe so he picked up her paper and carried it to his desk in the corner of the room. "So, I will read that and make some notes and give it back to you."
"That sounds great," she responded excitedly.
He nodded with a smile and expected her to leave, but she stayed. She was still leaning on his lab bench smiling at him. "I have another favour to ask you," she revealed after a moment.
"What is it?" He chuckled.
"Matthew's birthday is coming up and I was wondering if you could help me throw a surprise party for him."
Jackson forced the smile to remain on his face. He never forgot that April was Matthew's girlfriend, but any reminders still bothered him. "What do you have in mind?" He questioned tentatively.
"Just if you could, on Saturday, keep him out of the apartment for the day so that I can decorate and set up, and stuff," she explained.
He nodded as he looked down at his shoes. "Yeah, I can probably do that."
She smiled brightly and lunged forward to place a kiss on his cheek. "You're the best, Jackson!" He blushed traitorously but she didn't seem to notice as she chattered excitedly. "And you can invite whoever you want. You should definitely invite Lexie."
His eyes widened in confusion. "What? Why?" Why would April want him to invite Lexie the lab assistant to Matthew's party?
April grinned suggestively, "Jackson, she likes you."
He shook his head as he felt himself getting flustered. "Uh…I don't think so. We-we're friends…we're just friends."
"I think she does," the red-head giggled, "and why wouldn't she? You're a great guy." She stepped forward and gently pulled his lab goggles and glasses off of his face. "And you should show off those eyes more. They're lethal."
He smiled and tried to laugh it off, the truth was that her proximity was doing terrible things to him. "I'm as blind as a bat now." He knew that there were little things that he could change about himself that would make him appear more attractive, like wearing contacts. He had a pretty decent face; he just didn't see the point of changing. He wanted to be himself. He didn't want women to see him as just a pretty guy, like they saw Matthew.
She continued to stare into his gorgeous blue-green eyes and she could sense his unease. "Sorry, I'm making you uncomfortable. I should go now anyway. I'll see you later."
He thought about calling after her but ultimately decided against it. If he asked her to stay he would probably just make a fool out of himself anyway. Her leaving was for the best.
The next day Jackson returned home from work to find April cooking in their kitchen. Well, she was trying to cook, Matthew was a little too all over her for her to accomplish anything. She giggled loudly as he kissed her neck and the sound turned Jackson's stomach. He slammed the apartment door shut and the bang caught their attention.
They both turned around to face him and he forced a smile. "Hey."
"Hey man," Matthew grinned. "How was work? Blow anything up?" He joked.
"Hi Jackson," April giggled as Matthew's hands tickled her waist.
"What are you cooking?" Jackson inquired.
"Oh, just chicken alfredo and garlic bread," she answered. "It's almost done."
"Cool," Jackson answered as he took a seat on the sofa.
"I told her that she didn't have to come over and cook dinner," Matthew began, "but she insisted."
Jackson couldn't stop himself from thinking that Matthew was just lucky that he had cancelled his Monday night's romps with Cristina Yang. Otherwise, he would have to find a way to usher April out of the apartment sooner rather than later. But now she could stay here overnight and still not discover the truth about her boyfriend. And Jackson could revel in his extended state of misery.
After dinner, which was absolutely delicious, Matthew sat in the living room with a beer while Jackson helped April clean up.
He dried the dishes that she washed and carefully placed them in their designated spots. "Dinner was great, thanks," he told her quietly.
"No problem," she smiled. "I love to cook but it's not much fun cooking for just one. It's nice to come over here and cook for you guys." She looked over her shoulder at Matthew and her smile widened even further. "Besides, we're both so busy, it's good to spend time together whenever we can."
Jackson nodded as he swallowed the lump in his throat. "Right. That makes sense."
"So," she began thoughtfully as she washed another plate. "I don't think I've ever asked. How long have you and Matthew lived together?"
"Four years," he replied. "I moved out here after I finished my PhD at MIT and this was the first place that I looked at. Matthew was still modelling at the time. He seemed like a nice enough guy and we both had busy schedules that worked well together. It was very much a setup of necessity but it worked. We're complete opposites but we're friends."
"Your friendship is really cute," April grinned. "You guys get along really well."
Jackson opened his mouth to respond but remained silent when her heard footsteps behind him. His roommate placed his empty beer bottle on the kitchen counter before he rested both of his hands on Jackson's shoulders. "I'm always trying to convince the guy to come out with me so that I can fix him up with a girl but he works too hard."
The chemist smiled good-naturedly with a shrug. "I'm just not in the market for a relationship right now," he lied.
Matthew chuckled. "Who said anything about a relationship? We can just find you a girl that'll make you have the IQ of a normal dude."
April gently smacked her boyfriend's chest. "Jackson's better than that. He doesn't want meaningless one night stands. Being in a relationship is much more fulfilling. Right, honey?" She asked Matthew as she kissed him lightly on the lips.
"You are entirely right," Matthew responded quickly.
Jackson managed to stop himself from making obnoxious gagging sounds as he watched them kiss. The irony was just entirely too much for him. He laid the dishtowel on the kitchen counter before he excused himself. "I'm going to go in my room and do some work."
"Bye Jackson," April called.
"Yeah, see ya later, man," Matthew added through kisses.
Four hours later, Jackson removed his headphones and stared down at the last paragraph of April's thesis with a smile. He had read her paper in one sitting, from beginning to end, and had enjoyed every word of it. He had made some suggestions and points of constructive criticism here and there but overall he thought that the entire thing was brilliant. Her research was fascinating and her writing was great.
She was just brilliant.
He wrapped his headphones around his IPod and laid the device on his bedside table. He decided that he would read through April's thesis one more time before going to bed.
He had just finished rereading the first page when he heard very distinct noises from Matthew's bedroom. Unfortunately, their rooms shared a wall.
"Jesus Christ," he murmured under his breath.
He hated listening to Matthew's extracurricular activities but it was exponentially worse when he knew that the woman with him was April…and April was loud. He could hear her panting and screaming Matthew's name and it made his skin crawl. He knew that the guy was good in bed but this was just ridiculous.
Jackson angrily hopped off of his bed and left his room. He headed to the living room, the room furthest away from Matthew's bedroom, and turned on the television. He channel surfed until he found a documentary about the atomic bomb on the History Channel. He turned it up loud enough to drown out any residual noise and wrapped himself in a blanket.
He was awoken early the next morning by April's hand on his shoulder. "Hey," she smiled, "what are you doing sleeping on the couch?"
Jackson looked around in confusion before he remembered why exactly he had moved from his room to the couch. "I…uh…I…this documentary was on…"
Her eyes lit up excitedly and she sat down next to him on the sofa. "What was it about?"
He tiredly scratched his face. He really needed to shave. "Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb."
She sighed in disappointment and smacked his leg. "Ah, you should have let me know it was on! I would have watched it with you!"
Jackson's eyes zeroed in on her hand, which was still resting on his calf, and for the first time he realized that she was sitting right next to him and he was wearing just his boxers and a plain, white t-shirt, with only a blanket covering his lap. He had never been this close to such a gorgeous woman in so little clothing. "Uhhh…you were...busy, I think," he finally responded.
April blushed in embarrassment and covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I—"
Jackson waved his hand to get her to stop talking. He didn't want to talk about it because he didn't want to think about it. He glanced at his watch as he started to stand. "I should really get ready for work. I'll see you later."
He practically ran into the bathroom and April fell back against the couch with a sigh. They got along incredibly well but sometimes she got the impression that Jackson really didn't like her.
On Wednesday morning, Jackson woke up and looked forward to his morning coffee with Leah Murphy. She was the only woman that passed through this apartment that was aware that other women frequently passed through the apartment as well. Jackson didn't feel as if he had to hide anything from her and it was a relief.
She energetically pranced into the kitchen and greeted him with a smile. "Good morning Dr. Avery!"
He grinned as he poured her a cup of coffee. "Good morning, Leah. How are you?"
"I'm great. I don't have class until noon but I want to get a good workout in. What are you up to today?"
"The same as always," he answered dejectedly. "Just work."
"Researching stuff?" She teased.
He laughed, "Yeah, exactly." He turned towards the stove and asked, "Do you want me to make some eggs?"
Leah shook her head. "No, I'll get something to eat after the gym. What I really want is the name of the girl that you're in love with?"
"Uh…excuse me…w-what?" He stammered.
Leah grinned mischievously. "You're in love. It's written all over your face. And I'm willing to bet," she emphasized excitedly, "that it's someone you see on a regular basis. So who is it? Is it Monday morning girl Meredith Grey?"
Jackson responded to her dangerous line of questioning with a question. "It really doesn't bother you that he sleeps with other women and that you know their names?"
She shook her head and answered nonchalantly. "It really doesn't. It's just fun. I'm not serious about him. He's really good in bed but he's really not my type."
Jackson grimaced, "You really don't need to talk about how good in bed he is."
Leah threw back her head and laughed. "Sorry."
"I hear enough testimonials to that fact every night," he continued in annoyance.
The brunette raised an eyebrow in interest. "I hit a nerve. Well I know you're not in love with me," she stated confidently. "You'd be much more flustered right now if you were. So is it Izzie Stevens? She's a babe." He remained silent and refused to answer her. "April Kepner?" She tried next.
"Just stop asking questions," he finally spoke. "I am not in love with any of the women that my roommate is seeing."
"See I was willing to believe that until I mentioned April's name and you responded like that. You're in love with the girlfriend," she accused.
He shook his head adamantly. "No, no I'm not. April and I, we just…we just have a lot in common. We-we talk a lot and we're interested in the same things. B-but she really likes him so…so we're just friends."
Leah stared at him sympathetically. "I'm so sorry. I was just teasing, I didn't know that you really loved her but obviously you do."
He thrummed his fingertips against the tabletop of the island. "Yeah, I do," he whispered. "But it doesn't matter."
"Of course it does," she argued. "Just tell her. Let her know. Give her a choice."
He sighed, "She really likes him. It won't matter."
"Let her decide that," Leah persisted. She finished her cup of coffee and leaped over the island so that she could place an over exaggerated kiss on his cheek. "Smart and sweet are the new sexy!" She chimed as she grabbed her bag and headed towards the door.
She left and Jackson frowned to himself. "Yeah, right," he muttered.
Saturday, the day of Matthew's surprise birthday party arrived, and Jackson spent the morning searching his brain for ways that he could get his roommate out of the apartment for a considerable amount of time. He had promised April that he would get Matthew out of their place by at least two o'clock. But so far he didn't have any ideas.
Matthew strolled out of bed just after noon and lazily scratched his bare stomach as he mumbled a greeting.
Jackson energetically jumped off of the couch and ran into the kitchen. "Happy birthday, man."
"Thanks," Matthew smiled as he turned on the coffee pot.
"So," Jackson began, "what are you gonna do today?"
The taller man shrugged. "I dunno. I might go to the gym. Izzie texted me this morning so I might meet up with her." He turned to Jackson with a grin as a thought struck him. "April said she has a present that she wants to give me tonight. Man, I hope its lingerie."
Jackson hid his uncomfortable expression. "Do you wanna go to a movie today or something? Just us guys."
Matthew chuckled, "I love you, man, but there are more exciting ways to spend my birthday."
The dark-skinned man rolled his eyes before he blurted out the truth. "April is throwing you a surprise party tonight and it's my job to get you out of the apartment this afternoon!"
His eyes widened. "She's throwing me a party?" He questioned with a smile.
Jackson nodded and replied quietly, "Yeah, she is. She really cares about you, Matthew."
"I really care about her too," he responded instantly. Jackson raised an eyebrow and Matthew spoke as if he was offended. "I do! I know I don't show it a lot but I do. She's amazing."
Jackson bristled in annoyance and his face flushed in anger. If he cared about her so much and thought that she was amazing then why did he need to see other women? Jackson really didn't understand. If April was his, he wouldn't even think about other women.
"Let's just go to the movies," he grumbled.
"Do you have something to say?" Matthew probed.
Jackson shook his head and lied. "Nope. Not at all."
During the party, Jackson stood in the corner of his kitchen next to one of his friends from work, Alex Karev. He and Karev were in similar fields of study so they often collaborated on projects and exchanged ideas. They were also similar in a lot of other ways. In other words, Alex was a geek just like him with large glasses and awkward mannerisms.
Matthew had appeared appropriately surprised and then he had proceeded to make out with April in front of everyone. Their apartment was crowded with a lot of Matthew's friends and some of the cast and crew of his soap opera. April had invited a few of her friends as well and some of Jackson's coworkers were here. There was birthday cake and snacks, and lots and lots of alcohol. Jackson was already two drinks in and he had a feeling he was going to get very drunk tonight.
He just couldn't stand watching April and Matthew together. It seemed as if he had reached his boiling point, his level of tolerance had expired, and he just couldn't watch them together anymore, not knowing what he knew.
"There are so many beautiful women here," Alex stated nervously.
Jackson nodded in agreement as he focused on April. "Yeah, some of Matthew's co-stars are here. Soap operas are full of pretty people," he said bitterly.
"Who's that brunette over there?" Alex asked.
Jackson tore his gaze away from the red-head and tried to figure out who Alex was referring to. He finally realized who his friend's eyes were trained on and he couldn't help but release a chuckle. "Oh that's Leah Murphy. She's a friend of Matthew's." He had invited Leah to the party because he liked her and because he knew that she wouldn't be a source of drama, and perhaps a small part of him hoped that she would say something to April.
"She kinda looks like Sandra Bullock, don't ya think?"
"A little," Jackson shrugged. He looked down into his empty class in disappointment. "I'm empty. Do you want another drink?"
"No, thanks." Jackson took a step forward but Alex grabbed his arm in alarm. "Dude," he began, "you can't leave me here alone. What if she comes over to talk to me?"
"Then talk about your research or something," he shrugged. "I don't know! Why are you asking me? I have as much luck with women as you do!"
Jackson walked off in frustration and headed towards the table with all of the liquor bottles on it. He wasn't much of a drinker but tonight he would be.
A few hours later, he was very intoxicated and in dire need of the facilities. He stumbled to the bathroom and knocked on the closed door. "Come out please!" He demanded.
The door flung open and he was greeted by the sight of Alex, glasses askew, with a slender brunette wrapped around him. His friend was clearly enjoying himself, returning the woman's kisses hungrily. It took Jackson a moment to realize that the woman was Leah.
The couple finally broke apart for air and Jackson stared at them in shock. Alex looked back at him with a shit-eating grin and Leah offered him a smile.
"Hey Jackson, we'll just be going now," she stated.
"We will?" Alex asked eagerly.
She nodded. "We will." She grabbed his hand and tugged him down the hallway.
"So that's your type?" Jackson called after her.
"I told you!" She yelled back over her shoulder. "Smart and sweet are the new sexy!"
Jackson shook his head in disbelief as they disappeared around the corner and he stepped into the bathroom. Alex, of all people, was getting lucky tonight. He couldn't believe it.
After doing his business, he left the bathroom and practically bowled over April in the hallway. "Oh! I'm so sorry," he apologized as he gripped her shoulders.
"It's okay," she laughed. "I'm fine. No harm done."
Jackson smiled uncontrollably as he looked down at her. He really wanted to say it. He wanted to tell her how he felt about her. "April, can I talk to you?" He asked nervously.
She nodded. "Yeah, sure, but can I pee first?"
"Y-yeah, of course," he stuttered. "I'll be in my room."
He walked into his bedroom and sat down on the end of his bed. He wiped his sweaty palms on his slacks as he anxiously waited for April to join him. It was probably just the alcohol talking but he felt that now was his opportunity and he would regret it if he didn't tell her that he loved her tonight.
He was in the middle of fidgeting with the placement of his glasses when his door opened and April stepped inside his room.
She began to speak before he got the opportunity to start. "I just wanted to thank you again for helping me with this! I really appreciate it and everyone's enjoying themselves! Matthew was surprised, huh?" She laughed.
He nodded and lied, "Yes, he was. He never saw it coming."
"Great," she giggled. "That's really great. I've wanted to do something like this for him for a while. I feel like we're getting really serious and—"
"No, you're not," Jackson interrupted her in frustration. "You're not getting serious."
She looked at him in surprise. His voice had taken on a cold edge that she had never heard before. "Jackson," she replied calmly, "I don't think you really have the right to judge. What's going on in mine and Matthew's relationship is between me and Matthew."
"Yeah, and the three other women he's sleeping with," he angrily bit out.
"Um, excuse me?" April squeaked.
Jackson's voice grew softer as he gazed at her. He hadn't meant to just blurt that out. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to tell you like that."
She gulped for air as she fought back a barrage of tears. She felt as if her entire world had just been turned upside down. She would have never considered herself to be a naïve individual but apparently she was incredibly easy to dupe. Matthew would have some pretty lame excuses for why he couldn't spend time with her at times but she had never imagined that he was seeing other people. She always figured that he was tired from filming, or he just wanted some time to himself.
She had really been falling for him and now she felt like an idiot.
"How long has he been sleeping with other women?" She asked shakily.
"Since you've started dating," Jackson answered reluctantly. "He's never been with just one woman since I've known him. I'm sorry."
Well now she felt like an even bigger idiot. She took a long moment to think before she asked, "And you knew this whole time and you never told me?" She had thought that she and Jackson were friends. She had thought that he would at least have the decency to tell her something like this.
"I-I d-didn't…I didn't want to hurt you," he responded genuinely. "I care about you…a lot."
She scoffed, "Yet you didn't tell me that my boyfriend was making a fool out of me?" She jumped to her feet in anger and headed towards the door.
"April, wait, please!" He called. She stopped at the door and spun around to face him. "I'm so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you and I didn't want to tell you because I thought maybe you'd think I had ulterior motives."
She furrowed her brow in confusion. "What? Why would I think that?"
"Because…because…because…" He took a deep breath and bravely trudged forward. "Because I love you."
Jackson grew nervous as more time passed in silence. The way that April stared at him made it very clear that she had had no idea. She had not seen this coming.
She looked at the man in front of her, sitting on his bed in his black slacks, white shirt, and black bowtie and she just couldn't wrap her head around what he was saying. He was so different from Matthew. Jackson had half of Matthew's confidence and half of his charm. He wore white socks with black pants for God's sake! And this man was in love with her?
"Jackson…"
As soon as she spoke he knew that it wasn't good news. He could tell by the tone of her voice that she was trying to figure out a way to let him down easy. "It's okay," he butt in. "You don't have to say anything else. I get it." He grabbed her thesis off of his bedside table and brought it to her. "There you go. I'm done with it. It's really good," he muttered.
He reached for the doorknob and she tried to stop him from leaving by placing her hand on top of his. "Jackson, wait a second, don't leave."
He plastered a smile on his face. "Really, its fine. We can just pretend that this never happened. It's not a big deal."
Jackson went for a long walk and when he returned to the apartment all of the party guests had left and he could hear that Matthew and April were in the middle of an argument. He took no joy in their fighting, he just felt empty.
He hid in his room until late the next day and when he finally asked Matthew what happened between them he said that April had dumped him after finding messages from other women on his phone. Jackson wasn't sure what to make of the fact that April hadn't revealed that he had told her the truth.
Matthew seemed a little down about the breakup but Jackson knew that he would rebound quickly. He always did. He could have any woman that he wanted; he would find a replacement quickly and hopefully Jackson wouldn't fall in love with her.
Monday morning at work, he learned from Alex that what had happened between him and Leah had not been a one night stand. So Jackson began to see Leah on a fairly regular basis instead of just on Wednesday mornings. He was happy for his friend but he couldn't help but envy him too.
Not long after that, Matthew ended things with Meredith Grey and started to exclusively date Izzie Stevens. His roommate was definitely struggling with monogamy but he was making a real effort, and he asked Jackson for advice regularly. Jackson had to admit that he was rather proud of the guy. Matthew wasn't actually half as sleazy as he had appeared when he had been seeing multiple women. He was actually a pretty good guy; he just enjoyed women a little too much.
A lot of things around Jackson had changed in the three months since Matthew's birthday but his life had stayed virtually the same. He still had the same everyday routine, he still worked too much, and he was still single. He hadn't seen April since that night and he was too scared to call her.
He had given up all hope of ever seeing her again on the very day that she showed up at his lab.
He almost dropped the beaker that he was holding when he turned his head and found her standing in the doorway. "A-April?"
She smiled and stepped into the room, closing the door behind her. "Hi, how are you?"
"I'm good. How are you?" He was honestly too shocked to say anything else. A part of him was convinced that he was hallucinating. It wouldn't be the first time that he had imagined April showing up out of nowhere looking gorgeous. "You look nice," he gulped. She was wearing a black pants suit and a white blouse. Her hair was curled and she was also wearing heels. She looked very professional but also very sexy.
"Thank you. I defended my thesis today," she told him.
"How did it go?" He asked curiously.
"It went great," she grinned. "Your comments really helped a lot. I couldn't have done it without you."
He awkwardly shuffled his feet as he responded, "Glad I could help." He nervously bit down on his bottom lip before he brought up the elephant in the room. "I'm sorry about you and Matthew, I know—"
She stepped up to him, grabbed his face in both hands, and pressed her mouth to his to prevent him from saying anything else. When the kiss ended, she placed both of her hands on his chest and grinned up at him. "We don't need to talk about that."
It had taken her a few weeks to realize that she had not acted appropriately to either of Jackson's confessions. She couldn't blame him for not telling her about Matthew's indiscretions. He had been protecting her while remaining loyal to his friend. It had been a tough position for him to be in. And she had been so taken aback by his declaration of love that she hadn't known how to respond. As more time passed, she realized how stupid she had been. A girl couldn't do any better than Jackson Avery. He was the smartest and sweetest guy that she had ever met.
…And she had feelings for him too. She wasn't in love with him yet but she could be.
So as soon as her thesis defense had ended, she knew exactly where she needed to go and who she needed to see.
Jackson was absolutely speechless. He had no idea what to say. She had just kissed him. He had thought about this for a long time and now he had no idea what to do. He felt very stupid for the first time in his life.
"Are you going to say something?" She giggled.
He licked his lips as he raised his hands to rest on her waist. "I don't know what to say. Help me out," he chuckled. April moved her mouth to his ear and began to nibble on his earlobe. "Okay," he swallowed, "I'm not going to be able to say anything if you keep doing that."
She giggled again and pressed her face against his neck. He was too cute for words. "Did you really mean what you said?" She asked seriously. "That you love me?"
"Yeah," he answered quickly. "I do love you."
April responded by kissing him hungrily and he gladly went along with her. She pushed his lab coat off of his shoulders as she walked him back towards his desk. He chuckled awkwardly as his butt collided with the wooden edge but it didn't draw his focus away from the task at hand. He threaded a hand through her hair as he enthusiastically pulled her bottom lip into his mouth.
He couldn't believe that he was actually doing this…in his lab…with April…
Maybe he was dreaming.
"Is your lab bench safe to sit on?" She breathed.
He nodded even though he was confused by her question. "Yeah, of course. I just cleaned up from an experiment actually."
She grinned at him devilishly before she walked backwards and jumped up onto the bench. She grabbed his hand and pulled him forward so that he was standing between her legs. She ran her hands over his newly shaved head, which she was definitely a fan of, before she started to unbutton his shirt. His lips were attached to her neck as he blazed a trail down to her cleavage.
He had no idea what he was doing but he was certainly enjoying it.
He pulled away so that he could look her in the eye when he felt her tug on his belt. "Are we…I mean, are we gonna…?" He trailed off and his cheeks flushed.
"Yeah," she panted, "if you want to that is."
"Of course I do!" He responded quickly. "Just maybe…um…we should go to a bed for our first time?"
"You are so unbelievably sweet," she muttered through kisses. She pulled his shirt wide open and ran her fingertips down his torso. "Wow," she whispered. She had no idea that he was so toned and defined, probably nobody knew. "Or we could just go to a bed later?" Her voice was thick and laden with arousal.
She was looking at him with dark eyes, flushed cheeks, and plump lips. He didn't have the self-control to say no. "Yeah, that sounds good." He eagerly returned his mouth to hers as he pushed her blazer off of her shoulders. "Yeah…bed later. Much better idea."
A/N: Please leave a review! :)